SA-NZ Venues, including North Harbour
What is so special about it to make it the venue for such a match? Or is it that matches between All Blacks and Springboks have been downgraded to smaller venues?
Is it so special?
The stadium was built in 1997, which means it has no special tradition; it has a capacity of 25 000, which means it is not special in the number of spectators it can house.
Across he bridge there is Eden Park. It is 117 years old, nearly six times as old as North Harbour. As a result, Eden Park is special in tradition, and has a capacity of 50 000, twice as many as North Harbour Stadium. Eden Park has hosted 11 Tests between New Zealand and South Africa, second only to Ellis Park's 15. But it will be idle while the match takes place in all-purpose North Harbour.
There is a story that Eden Park has been too much in use and so too much of a burden on people willing to go to it. After all it hosted two B&I Lions Tests and one with Samoa this year.
Obviously, the host union is empowered to decide where Tests are played, and the New Zealand RFU exercised its right by choosing North Harbour Stadium.
It's not unusual. France uses several venues for Tests, though Stade de France hosts the big ones. Australia uses five venues, though Sydney and Brisbane host the big ones.
In recent times South Africa has placed Tests in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town (the big six), but also in Nelspruit, Soweto and Rustenburg.
The FNB Stadium in Soweto hosted the All Blacks in 2010 and 2012, a politically correct thing to do, but then it is a stadium with a capacity of just under 95 000. It was opened in 1989.
The Royal Bafokeng Stadium (capacity 45 000) in Rustenburg also hosted a match between the Springboks and the All Blacks
Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit hosted a Test between South Africa and Argentina last year and before that Tests with Scotland and Wales. The stadium seats 46 000 and was opened in 2009.
PAM Brink Stadium in Springs has hoisted two Tests – with France and Argentina. Like North Harbour Stadium it has a capacity of 25 000.
Kimberley used to be an important hosts for Tests when it was a sporting centre – in the days of CJ Rhodes and Barney Barnato. East London and Stellenbosch have also hosted Tests and there are grounds no longer used – Kingsmead, Crusader Ground in Port Elizabeth and Boet Erasmus Stadium.
The Springboks have played in many stadiums, from Whangarei to Invercargill, mostly in the days of touring. And it has also played Tests at North Harbour Stadium. That was during the 2011 World Cup when they played Namibia and Samoa. They won both of those.
This one?
